Submarine excavator



(No Model.)

J. & P. WAGNER.

SUBMARINE EXGAVATOR.

No. 372,582. Patented Nov. 1, 1887.

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UNTE STATES JOHN \VAGNER AND PETER WAGNER, OF ATOHISON, KANSAS.

SUBMARBNE. EXCAVATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 372,582, dated November 1, 1887.

Application filed August 16, 1887. Serial No. 247,109.

To aZZ whom it may 0071 cam:

Be it known that we, JOHN WAGNER and PETER WAGNER, of Atchison, in the county of Atchison and State of Kansas, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Submarine Excavators, of which the following is a'specitication.

Our invention relates to excavators and dredgers in which buckets are hinged to the ends of a shaft and connected at their upper edges by toggle-jointed arms, the hinged joint of which is drawn toward the said shaft to close the buckets, and which are suspended solely from the hinge-joint of said togglearms to open the buckets.

The objects of our invention are, mainly, to form the buckets in such manner that they may be used effectively inside of a cylinder; to hang the buckets in such mannerthat they may be reversed upon their hinges to present either a plane edge or a toothed edge to penetrate the material to be excavated; and to pro vide a simple construction and combination of parts for opening and closing the buckets; to which ends our improvements consist in certain forms and combinations of parts here inafter described, and particularly designated in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of our invention; Fig. 2, a vertical section in the line at a: of Fig. 1, with the buckets open and the smooth edge of the buckets turned down; Fig. 3, asimilar representation of the buckets closed, with the toothed edges turned down; and Fig. 4, a plan of the cross-bar in detail.

The buckets A A are globular segments of sheet metal hinged to the ends of a cross-bar, B. The cross-bar B consists of parallel plates b, secured at their ends to journal-blocks b, upon which the buckets are hinged, and sheavepulleys 0, supported between and journaled upon thesaid plates,turn freely therein,around which. pass the chains for closing and elevating the buckets. A hinged strainingbeain, D, consisting of toggle-plates D D"', hinged together upon a bolt, E, and also hinged to buttplates D D, is secured by screw bolts and nuts (I, passing through the said butt-plates and buckets. The edges or rims d of the buckets A A are smooth, to be used upon soft (No model.)

or muddy earth, and the edges d of said buckets have prongs d projecting therefrom, to be used upon rocky and sandy bottoms or upon clays requiring penetrating-points.

A chain, F, secured to a bail, E, attached to the ends of the shaft E, passes up to the liftingdrum at the surface, and is used for emptying the buckets and for lowering them, and chains G G secured to the ends of the shaft E, pass downwardly around the sheavepulleys O, and are joined to a chain, G, which passes up, together with the chain F, to the lifting-drum. When thestrain is brought upon the chain F, the shaft E will be pulled away from the crossbar B, and the buckets will be opened by straightening the plates of the straining-beam D, and bring their lower ends together toward the line of draft. Vhen the strain is brought upon the chain G, the branch chains G will draw the shaft E toward the cross-bar B and spread the plates of the straining-beam,which will thus push against the upper ends of the buckets and close them wit-l1 great force. The penetrating edges of the buckets being circular and the form of said buckets being globular segments, they will enter the earth with powerful initial pressure, and will expand upon all sides as they are pushed forward to receive the graduallyincreasing volume of earth excavated thereby.

The simple form of toggle-joint and chainand-pulley connection employed by us will exert itself with gradually-increasing force as the toggle-plates expand, to give a final pressure of greatly augmented force required at the end of the movement of the buckets. WVhen the buckets are closed, the continued strain upon the chain G will elevate the buckets to the surface or to the receptacle into which they are to be dumped.

hen the buckets with their contents have been raised and placed in position for dumping them, the chain F is drawn upon and the chain G slackened, by which means the toggle-plates ofthe straining-beam will bestraightened out and the buckets will be opened to dump the load.

\Vhen hard rocky or sandy soil is to be penetrated, the butt-plates D D are removed from the buckets and reversed thereon to attach the straining-beam to the smooth edges of the buckets and allow the pronged edges of the said buckets to hang down and penetrate the material to be excavated. The crossbar B also reversed, and the buckets will be operated as hereinbefore described.

The globular form of the buckets will permit them to be used successfully within cylinders, which are often employed in the con struction of piers and submarine excavations and structures, as the circular and globular form of the bucket will fit the interior of the cylinder and will act equally well upon the whole of the interior contents thereof.

We claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination, in an excavator, of buckets having a smooth edge and a pronged edge, and reversibly connected with each other, substantially as and for the purpose de- 20 scribed.

2. The combination, in an excavator, of the hinged reversible buckets provided with double penetrating'edges, and a straining-beam connected to the said buckets by butt-plates and removable fastening devices, substantially as described.

3. In an excavator, thecombination, with the buckets, of a cross-bar formed of double plates and journal-blocks, upon which the said buckets are hinged, sheave-pulleys supported between the plates of said cross-bar, a straining-beam, and chains passing from said straining-beam around the pulleys, substantially as described.

4. In an excavator, in combination with the buckets A A, the cross-bar B, the pulleys G, the toggleplates D D hinge-shaft E, and chains F G, combined for joint operation, sub stantially as described.

JOHN WAGNER. PETER WAGNER.

Witnesses:

F. A. ORYAIN, J. O. BUCHANAN. 

